The Innovex Estevan Bears are on the brink of securing their third consecutive appearance in the SMAAAHL Playoffs, and now the goal has shifted to securing home ice advantage in the first round of the postseason.
The Regina Pat Canadians and Moose Jaw Warriors have already clinched the top 2 seeds, while four squads are fighting for the final two playoff spots and avoiding elimination. Meanwhile, the Bears are currently battling it out with three other very capable teams in the middle of the standings with less than three weeks to go in the regular season: the Saskatoon Blazers, Warman Wildcats, and Swift Current Legionnaires.
Each round of playoffs is a Best-of-5 series, including the Quarterfinal series where the top 4 teams in the regular season host teams 5 through 8 in the standings. The Bears have entered the playoffs the last two seasons as the 8th seed (2023-24) and the 7th seed (2024-25), falling in 4 games to the Blazers and 5 games to the Warriors respectively. And while having home-ice advantage in the playoffs doesn’t guarantee a series victory, it is definitely beneficial guaranteeing the first two games in front of the home fans.
The Bears have already completed their season series’ with each of the Blazers (2-2), Wildcats (2-2), and Legionnaires (0-4), though all four games against Swift Current were finished before November and the Bears have been a significantly improved team since. With it being highly likely these four teams will be playing each other in the first round, and being so evenly matched, having home ice advantage may be the difference in advancing to the semi-final.
So while it appears the Bears have already secured their best regular season finish in franchise history, the next goal is winning their first ever playoff series. And having the fans in Estevan loudly cheering on the team in Games 1 & 2 would certainly shift things into a higher gear for the Bears during the most important time of the year.
REMAINING SCHEDULES (8 GAMES EACH)
Estevan – 5 HOME (Notre Dame, Moose Jaw 2x, Tisdale 2x), 3 AWAY (Yorkton, Battlefords 2x)
Blazers – 5 HOME (SK Contacts, Yorkton 2x, Moose Jaw, Battlefords, 3 AWAY (Prince Albert, Contacts, Battlefords)
Wildcats – 3 HOME (Regina, Moose Jaw 2x), 5 AWAY (Regina, Yorkton 2x, Tisdale, Battlefords)
Legionnaires – 3 HOME (Regina, Prince Albert 2x), 5 AWAY (Contacts 2x, Notre Dame, Yorkton 2x)
